


Every Moron Needs Friends

by Gadhar



Category: The Expendables (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-10
Updated: 2014-10-10
Packaged: 2018-02-20 13:56:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2431334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gadhar/pseuds/Gadhar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Calacious: I don't know if you remember, but I did write something for that young Antonio character meets Stallone's character and here it is.<br/>Cool anon: You wanted something with 'every moron needs friends' and it fit perfectly here with this other idea. So, hope you like.</p><p>Also, whoooooo! Big 5-0. 50 fics. Bam! I'm awesome. Not really.</p><p>I own nothing.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Every Moron Needs Friends

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Calacious](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calacious/gifts), [Cool anon](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Cool+anon).



> Calacious: I don't know if you remember, but I did write something for that young Antonio character meets Stallone's character and here it is.  
> Cool anon: You wanted something with 'every moron needs friends' and it fit perfectly here with this other idea. So, hope you like.
> 
> Also, whoooooo! Big 5-0. 50 fics. Bam! I'm awesome. Not really.
> 
> I own nothing.

Barney can't say he knows when it started, this...thing, with Galgo. He just knows the first time he noticed it. 

He had been sitting with Lee, the usual conversation topics with the occasional barbs to rile the other up. Usual stuff. They were at Tool's place, of course, sitting in the garage because it's one of the only places Barney can get Lee to actually talk rather than grunt and make snide remarks. 

Anyway he had been sitting with Lee and they had been alone. Barney had drained the last bit of his beer and went to stand, grabbing Lee's empty bottle as well. He was going to ask Lee if he wanted another but, before he was fully standing, there was Galgo, right in front of him with a cold beer and an eager grin. 

He had snatched the empty bottles out of Barney's hands, replaced them with the one cold one and proceeded to just stand there as Barney flopped back down, trying not to have a heart attack. 

"Where the _fuck_ did you come from?" Lee hisses and he's got the wide crazy eyes Barney usually sees right before Lee sticks a knife in the throat of someone dumb enough to try and sneak up on him. 

Barney just point stupidly at Lee, still catching his breath and trying to steady his racing heart. 

"I thought you might need a beer, Sir," Galgo says and he's looking at Barney. Staring, really. Well, if Barney's totally accurate Galgo is boring into him with wide, intense eyes that are creepy as fuck. 

"Uh...thanks." Barney shares a look with Lee only to get a pointed glare, like Galgo popping up like a jack-in-the-box is his fault. 

"What? I don't get a beer?" Lee questions, leaning back in his chair. 

Galgo takes far too long to pull his eyes from Barney and look at Lee, shrugging his shoulders and ducking his head. He scratches at his hair and says quietly, almost absently, "I'm sorry. I did not know you were with the boss. Did you want one? I can go get you one. If you want one." 

Lee clicks his tongue looking at Barney again and this time saying, _why the fuck wouldn't be with you? I'm always with you,_ with his eyes. "Yeah. I want one." 

Galgo nods, up and down like a bobble head even as he looks back to Barney. "Would you like anything else? A snack maybe? Chips? Fries? A coke? I hear many people take coke with their alcohol. Not me personally but I don't know, maybe you do this. Maybe you want something else? Something to do? I can get you a crossword? Do you like the word puzzles? Maybe not. How about a Sudoku or even a-" 

Barney holds up a hand, waiting as the stream of words from Galgo's mouth slows to a stop. "I'm fine. Really, Galgo. I'm good. Get Lee a beer, yeah?" 

Galgo nods again, repeatedly and it makes Barney's neck ache just watching. "Yes, of course, Sir. Right away, sir." 

"It's Barney Galgo, seriously. Barney." 

"Right, of course, Barney. Sir. Of course." And he dashes out of the room before Barney can say anything more. 

Of course it was a weird exchange, Barney gets that. But he didn't really think anything of it. It was just Galgo being Galgo. But if he's honest, maybe he did think something was up when Lee looks at him, after Galgo has left, and says "Does he hold your balls or your dick when you piss?" 

xxx 

The next time he's just working on the bike. Tuning it up, polishing it, again, usual stuff. 

At first, it's fine, he's alone in the hangar, it's quiet, and Gunner hasn't called him in the past hour to leave a long voice message about the cat he just bought. 

So he's doing good. Right up until he starts thinking of how thirsty he is and how he'll get a water out of the fridge and suddenly there's a bottle in his face, rim edging far too close to his lips for comfort. 

He is proud to say he didn't freak and go for his gun. Only startled a little which translated to cussing Galgo out for a good five minutes before saying thanks for the water and downing the whole bottle. 

Galgo doesn't say anything the whole time he's there. But he sits next to Barney, cross-legged and eager as ever, handing over the tools Barney needs before he even asks for them. 

It's another weird thing, Galgo's eager helpfulness. But it's Galgo and Barney feels comfortable chalking it up to a need to prove himself useful to the team. And if Galgo has a weird mind reader thing going on in regards to the tools than it's probably just because he knows how to fix up a bike. Plain and simple. 

xxx 

The final time he noticed was when Galgo threw himself in front of a bullet for Barney, the idiot. 

He had spent days at Galgo's bedside then, guilt tearing him up after all the rage had done it's damage on the vending machine. 

Luckily, the wound wasn't bad. No organs damaged, just a lot of blood loss and deep hole through the gut. They had gotten out in time. They were _lucky._

So, when Galgo wakes up, all smiles and chattiness that the fuzz of unconsciousness can't dampen, Barney goes off. 

"You fucking idiot! What did you think you were doing?" 

Galgo frowns at him, obviously confused. 

"You disobeyed my orders. You threw yourself in front of a gun. _Are you insane?_ " 

"No? I don't think so? I'm not sure. Is there test I can take?" 

"You already took the test! You threw yourself in front of a bullet for no damn reason. That means you passed the test. You're nuts." Barney knows he looks like a crazy man, his arms waiving around as he shouts at someone who is currently crippled. But he can't help it. Galgo is _infuriating._ He could deal with the man following him around, but on missions, doing highly dangerous crap like that? No. Barney is _not_ good with that. 

"I did it for a good reason. I do not think it was as crazy as you say." 

"Oh yeah? Really. And what was this 'good reason'?" 

"Because you're my friend." Galgo deadpans, his face etched with serious lines that reveal a side of Galgo Barney's never seen. 

"What?" 

" _Even morons need friends._ Do you remember that?" 

"When you said it in the hang-" 

"No. When _you_ said it." 

"What?" 

Galgo pushes himself up, leaning so far forward it feels like he's right in Barney's face, even though he's at least three feet away. "Vietnam, years ago now. You probably don't remember but that's okay because _I_ remember. The Viet Cong resurgence, they had me, lured me away from my team with temptation of revenge." 

Barney blinks a few times, trying to think past the bullets whizzing through his mind. He hasn't thought of Vietnam at all. He, like everyone else signed it off as over after Saigon fell. Even if he went back numerous times afterwards. 

The more he looks at Galgo though, the deep conviction there, the more he sees the seriousness fade to rage of a distant past. "You were that _kid?"_

Galgo, laughs, just a brush of air past his lips. "Yes. You remember? You said, when you busted through the door with your machine guns blazing and untied me, you said, 'You the moron bent on revenge?' And I tried to rush you." 

"You tried to knife me in the gut." 

"Yes, well," Galgo taps a finger to his temple, smiling. "I was not so smart back then. Not so smart now either, but, I'd like to think I'm a bit better. Maybe there is a test for that." 

"Is that why you're here?" 

"On the team? No. Well, yes. Partly. Maybe." Galgo shakes his head and then nods and shakes his head again, his shoulders creeping up as he shrugs. "I recognized you but, what I said. That was the truth. But, I wanted to repay you too. I owe you everything. You saved my life. I told you what I was doing back then, how everyone had been killed or abandoned me and you, you said-" 

"Every moron needs friends. God, you were being stupid." 

"Yes but, I believed I had no friends. And then, there you were. You saved my life, you- you gave me a philosophy." 

"Every moron needs friends is not much of a philosophy." Barney snorts, turning on his heel and heading towards the door. He doesn't want to hear about all the 'good' he did. What people 'owe' him 

"But it is. You don't understand I owe you everything. _Everything._ " 

"You don't owe me anything Galgo. _Nothing._ " 


End file.
